Protests held Inside Congress Over CIA Torture

Washington, Jan 13: In a major embarrassment to authorities in United States, A group of protesters demonstrated inside the US Congress on Monday to demand the prosecution of CIA officials involved in the torture of suspected terrorists.
Around 10 protesters with a group called Witness Against Torture broke into shouts in the visitors’ gallery of the Senate chamber, calling for the full release of a Senate report on CIA torture practices after 9/11.
Senate Minority leader Dick Durbin of Illinois was speaking on the floor when the protest began.
Protesters yelled, “Prosecute now! Prosecute now!” and “Release the full report!” before being taken out the chamber by Capitol Police, put in plastic handcuffs and led away.
The participants specifically called out former Vice President Dick Cheney, chanting “Prosecute the torturers…. Cheney is not above the law.”
In December, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a drastically redacted summary of its voluminous report on the CIA’s torture program during the George W. Bush administration.
According to the Senate report, the CIA misled Congress and the White House about the harsh methods such as water boarding, sleep deprivation, mock executions and threats that the relatives of the prisoners would be sexually abused.
The report has drawn harsh criticism from the United Nation and prominent human rights groups, which have called for prosecution of those responsible.
In December, Cheney, who was vice president at the time of the CIA torture program, defended the methods revealed in the report, saying, “I’d do it again in a minute.”